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FRAC SPECIAL ANALYSIS:

FOOD STAMPS AND THE ELDERLY

PARTICIPATION:
Only a small number of eligible low-income elderly people are enrolled in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). In Fiscal Year (FY) 1997, 30 percent of eligible elderly people participated in the Food Stamp Program. (1) In FY 1999, households containing elderly persons represented 20.1 of all food stamp households. (2)

BENEFIT LEVELS:
In FY 1999, 78.5 percent of all food stamp households with elderly members were single-person households. (3) The average benefit for households containing elderly and other members was $118 a month. In FY 1998, Elderly people who lived alone received an average benefit of $49 a month. (4)

IMMIGRATION STATUS:
Most elderly food stamp recipients are U.S. citizens. In FY 1998, 83.3 percent of elderly food stamps recipients were U.S.-born citizens, 9.5 percent were naturalized citizens, and 2.6 percent were legal permanent residents, the remainder being either refugees or unknown. (5)

INCOME:
Food stamp households that contain elderly people tend to receive SSI or Social Security. In FY 1998, 59 percent of all food stamp households with elderly members received SSI, 73 percent received Social Security, and 37 percent received SSI as well as Social Security. (6) In FY 1998, the average gross income of households with elderly people was $589 a month, as compared to $582 for households without elderly people. (7)

FOOD INSECURITY:
Many elderly people are food insecure and in need of nutrition-related assistance. In 1998, 1.6 million to 2 million households with elderly people reported that they did not have enough of the right types of food needed to maintain their health or simply did not have enough to eat. (8) Of these households, approximately 500,000 to 600,000 reduced their food intake to the point where they experienced hunger. (9)

SPECIFIC FOOD STAMP RULES FOR THE ELDERLY

Following are some examples of specific Food Stamp Program rules for elderly individuals that help increase their access and benefit levels.

Elderly Households: Generally, everyone who lives together and purchases and prepares meals together is grouped together as one household. However, if a person is 60 years old or older and unable to purchase and prepare meals separately because of a permanent disability, the person and the person's spouse may qualify as a separate household if the others they live with do not have very much income. By applying as a separate household, the elderly person and or his or her spouse may become eligible for food stamp benefits.

Assisted Living: Most people are not eligible for food stamps if an institution, like a nursing home, gives them their meals. However, residents of federally subsidized housing for the elderly may be eligible for food stamps, even though they receive meals at the facility.

Resource Limits: A household with an elderly member may have up to $3,000 in resources. A household without an elderly member may only have up to $2,000 in resources. Some resources are not counted, such as a home, lot, pension fund, or burial plot. The resources of people who get SSI or TANF are not counted. There are also special rules for vehicles. If a vehicle is needed to transport a physically disabled household member, its value is not counted. There are also other long-standing rules as well as new options for vehicles. (10)

Income Limits: A household with one or more elderly members only has to meet the net income test (gross income minus certain deductions). Most households have to meet both a monthly gross and net income tests. Households in which all members are receiving SSI or TANF are considered to be eligible based on income.

Medical Deduction: For an elderly household member, allowable medical costs that are more than $35 a month may be deducted (unless an insurance company or someone who is not a household member pays for them). Allowable medical costs include most medical and dental expenses, such as doctor bills, prescription drugs and over the counter medication when approved by a doctor, dentures, inpatient and outpatient hospital expenses, and nursing care. They also include other medically related expenses, such as certain transportation costs, attendant care, and health insurance premiums. The costs of special diets are not allowable medical costs. Proof of medical expenses and insurance payments is required before a deduction for these expenses may be allowed. In 1998, 15.5 percent of households with elderly members took the medical deduction at an average of $108. (11) Many advocates believe that many more elderly people are eligible for the medical deduction but do not utilize it.

Shelter Deduction: A household with an elderly member may deduct all shelter costs over half of the household's income after other deductions. For households without an elderly member, there is a cap on the amount of excess shelter costs that may be deducted. Allowable shelter costs include rent or mortgage, taxes, interest, and utilities like gas, electricity and water. In 1998, households with elderly people who took a shelter deduction had an average deduction of $185. Households without elderly people who took a shelter deduction had an average deduction of $173. (12)

Authorized Representative: Elderly individuals who are unable to go to the food stamp office may have another person, the authorized representative, apply and be interviewed on their behalf, and purchase their food with their food stamps. The authorized representative must be designated in writing.

Certification Periods: If all adult household members are elderly or disabled, the state may assign the household a 24-month certification period. In 1998, the average certification period for households with elderly members was 13 months, as compared to an average of 9.9 months for all households. (13)

Joint Processing of SSI and FSP: SSI applicants and recipients must be informed of the availability of food stamp benefits, and assisted in applying for food stamp benefits, when applying for benefits at the Social Security Agency (SSA).

Waiver of face-to-face interview: The face to face interview must be waived if a waiver is requested by any household whose members are elderly and are unable to appoint an authorized representative or come to the food stamp office.

Please contact Sonya Schwartz, NAPIL Equal Justice Fellow, with any questions at sschwartz@frac.org or (202) 986-2200 x 3025.

Notes:

(1) USDA, The Nutrition Safety Net, Help For the Elderly and Disabled, p.2. The reasons for nonparticipation include: a lack of information, a perceived lack of need, low expected benefits, problems with program administration and stigma or related psychological reasons. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Reaching the Working Poor and Poor Elderly Study (December 1999). p.x.

(2) USDA, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households Fiscal Year 1999 (Advance Report), p. 1.

(3) id.

(4) id.

(5) USDA, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households Fiscal Year 1998, p.57.

(6) id. at 19.

(7) id. at 34.

(8) U.S. Bureau of the Census, Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey(August 1998) cited in GAO, Options for Improving Nutrition of Older Americans (August 2000) p.3.

(9) GAO, Options for Improving Nutrition of Older Americans (August 2000) p.5.

(10) Under a new law that will be effective on July 1, 2001, states have the option to conform the food stamp vehicle asset limit with the vehicle limit that the state has established in a TANF assistance program (so long as the TANF limit used is not more restrictive than the food stamp limit). The final Food Stamp Program Regulations contain a summary of vehicle rules and options. See 65 Fed. Reg. 70141 (November 21, 2000). Please contact FRAC for information on this and other vehicle rules and options.

(11) USDA, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households Fiscal Year 1998, p. 42-43.

(12) id. at 43.

(13) id. at 54.